The journey, which lasted a total of ten days including the five days that had already passed, was a series of events that were somewhat comfortable, somewhat embarrassing, and somewhat difficult.
Whenever I faced Rubel’s fair face after he had just washed up, I felt breathless. I couldn’t look directly at the child, so I kept averting my gaze. It was summer, so the fabric of my shirt was thin, and it felt like our skin was touching when the child sat close to me.
Was it because I had turned my insides out and shown them? The child’s face, smiling brightly whenever our eyes met, seemed suspicious. Even if I told him not to smile like that, it was only for the moment, and even if I told him not to keep looking at me, it was only for the moment.
I kept feeling stuffy and hot inside.
I couldn’t understand how people in the world could live with such hot and heavy hearts.
Still, when he insisted on sparring after the meal, I felt a little better after working up a sweat. Rubel’s swordplay was constantly resembling mine. He moved his feet according to the footwork I had taught him, and he drew his sword according to the swordplay I demonstrated. The sight of it was so endearing that I kept feeling overwhelmed.
I coughed several times, supporting the exhausted child as he swayed.
After that, when I got into the carriage and saw the child’s deep-set eyes becoming hazy with sleep, my vision darkened. The child was simply following the words he had said he would understand, believe, and trust. I’m a bad guy for coveting him, seeing him trust me and openly show his weak side.
Should I lend him my shoulder?
No, that won’t do.
I was busy suppressing the desire that arose every time I dealt with the affectionate child.
Even if you put a dog in front of a lump of meat, it wouldn’t drool like this. I couldn’t scold myself enough, even if I scolded myself a hundred times for being so nasty and hateful.
Because I had used my mind so much, I felt relieved and my shoulders relaxed when we arrived near the capital, where the First Magic Tower could be seen in the distance. In contrast to me, Rubel, who had been sighing deeply, whined that he was going to die of regret.
A smile spread across the eyes of the child looking at me. It was even dazzling.
Was I again fussing over how pretty the child was? I covered my forehead and eyes with one hand, hiding half of my face. The face that touched my hand was hot. I knew it was flushed even without looking.
“⋯We’re already here.”
“You came slowly, yet you’re complaining.”
“Still⋯. Now that we’re going back, there’s only busy work left⋯.”
“That’s⋯.”
Saying that he was sad that he couldn’t be with me longer was ticklish, but saying that he was afraid of working busily was understandable. Still, this child is someone who works hard at everything, so he’ll do well. Thinking so, I didn’t worry unnecessarily.
I raised my head and looked straight at the child. I resisted the urge to touch the cheek of the lovely thing that smiled brightly as soon as our eyes met, clenching my fist tightly. I feigned a gentle voice and urged him.
“If anything happens that puts your safety at risk, you can contact me regardless of the time. Ruben said he can handle Ranunculus, right?”
“Uh-huh. But, during the academy semester, we’re not allowed to make personal contact like that, Mika.”
“It doesn’t matter if you get a few demerit points.”
“Haha, okay. I’ll send you letters regularly for now. Don’t worry.”
I’m so afraid to leave him alone in the Imperial Palace right in front of me, what am I going to do?
Is there perhaps a way to reach enlightenment without climbing the mountains?
It was a pointless thought. In my past life, many Martial artists sought out sacred places for secluded training. Sacred places full of spiritual energy and the Yuil Mountains full of Mana were not much different. To hatch from an egg, you must first cover yourself with the shell. How could I be lax when facing a gateway that I must pass through?
I tried to shake off my affectionate feelings and soothe myself as if I were soothing the child.
“Yes. And⋯. It would be good to stop the carriage in front of the Imperial Palace today.”
“Huh? Why⋯? Are you meeting someone outside?”
“No. It’s not that, but⋯.”
I was embarrassed to look directly into the child’s eyes, so I covered my vision with my hand again. Through the fingers, I saw the child dressed in a vest with a blue jewel, as if showing off.
A hollow laugh kept leaking through my teeth. After I poured out my heart, Rubel wore that outfit shamelessly, as if he had never been shy. I couldn’t drop off a child in that state in front of the academy and say goodbye, could I?
I kept coughing dryly as I tried to swallow those words.
“Ruben has always seen me off, so I want to see you off too.”
“⋯Uh-huh⋯.”
“Would that be okay?”
“Yeah⋯. Let’s do that.”
Cautiously, the child, who was watching my mood, slipped his hand towards me. This is also a completely different behavior from five days ago. If he extends his hand like this, knowing that I won’t be able to resist grabbing it, he’s being affectionate⋯. Knowing it all too well, I took his hand and gently stroked it.
Will the day ever come when I get used to my heart pounding like this?
He said that he would have a coat made of the bear skin I had given him and come to visit when my exams were over, so I told him to do so. He said that he would send me letters regularly every month, so I told him to do so again. He asked me to pinky swear, so I obediently offered my finger.
I hesitated several times, wondering if this was okay, but I was already unable to win against Rubel. The back of my neck was hot and wouldn’t cool down.
❖ ❖ ❖
The schedule for the second semester of the third year was almost the same as last semester. However, this semester, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, I would be taking the business administration class <Continental Prices and Financial Management> with Ivan Holmes.
In that class, Galeph Fisher Professor lectured on the currency units and prices of the Sierran Empire and the five kingdoms. He said that because the prices of food and goods differed in each country, it was necessary to know the market price in order to avoid being ripped off when traveling to various countries later. It was a plausible explanation.
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I would take advanced swordsmanship classes, and on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, I would take private lessons from Maelo Sanson.
On Wednesday afternoons, I would take the Imperial Genealogy Class and then take private lessons from Wilton Roberts.
On Thursday and Friday afternoons, as in the previous semester, I would continue my research on Internal energy cultivation method with Douglas Mustang and Mage Boulder.
Thus, on the first Monday of August, I walked alone with Ivan Holmes for the first time.
I had spent a lot of time with other children, but I had rarely spent time alone with Ivan. It was Ivan who had insisted on taking classes together, but he was out of breath next to me and couldn’t even speak properly.
Fifteen years since I was born in this land. I have grown steadily every year and now have a height of just under six feet. Ivan was about half a hand taller than me. However, because he was not a Martial artists, he walked twice as slowly as I did.
Even though it wasn’t far from the dormitory to the business administration building, I stopped or slowed down several times for the child who kept panting.
“Michael, you, really, huff, walk fast⋯.”
“Even though I’m not using any footwork right now.”
Come to think of it, not long after I met Ivan, he envied Light Footwork. At that time, I was busy taking care of myself, and I didn’t want to teach the child because I considered it taboo to give away my Martial arts to someone who wasn’t a Martial artists.
But even Mage Boulder is trying hard to learn Internal energy cultivation method, so wouldn’t it be okay for this child to learn some simple footwork? With that thought, I scanned him from shoulder to toe. I was worried that if he grew up like this, he would grow up as weak as Calypse Agrigent.
“Perhaps, if you have time during this semester⋯.”
“Huff, huff, ha⋯?”
“Would you like to train with Marianne?”
“No.”
The answer was too quick. I was embarrassed and stopped walking.
Ivan Holmes didn’t slow down and wiped the sweat off his palm with his hand.
“Well, of course, it’s good to get healthier, but.”
“But?”
“It’s, because I’m a senior now. If I do it like Marianne, I’ll fall asleep in every morning class.”
“Hmm.”
“We’re here. This is the classroom.”
“Yes.”
If he didn’t want to, there was nothing I could do.
I asked him one more time with regret, but Ivan refused again.
Galeph Fisher, the business administration Professor in charge of the financial management class, was a man with golden-brown hair and sparkling dark brown eyes. His height and build were the same as those of an average adult in Sierran. I wondered if this person was also from the Nobility Almanac Management and Inspection Department, but I was only told that nothing was known about him.
Galeph ordered us to open our textbooks in a cheerful voice.
“The remaining three kingdoms, excluding Felix and Owen, use the same currency as the Sierran Empire. From the smallest to the largest unit, we use copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins. As you all know, we count the units as Coppers, Silvers, and Golds, respectively. Twenty copper coins make a silver coin, and ten silver coins make a gold coin.”
I scribbled down the numbers on the blackboard in my notebook as the Professor instructed.
“Because Felix is a region close to the Shatun Desert, barter is more common than currency. Therefore, the value of money is lower than in other kingdoms, so prices are high. Owen uses a currency unit called Dalts. Copper coins can be converted to five thousand Dalts, silver coins to one hundred thousand Dalts, and gold coins to one million Dalts.”
These were large numbers that I had never easily calculated. I wrote them down as well.
“Generally, 1 to 2 Coppers, or about five thousand to ten thousand Dalts, can buy a meal for a commoner in Sierran. The poor in Owen spend about three thousand to five thousand Dalts per meal.”
Thud.
The pen slipped from my hand and left a black stain on the notebook. I remembered spending three silver coins per person for a meal at the botanical garden. The crow doll I had cost 8 Silvers. I heard that one of my coats cost 4 Golds.
I didn’t often look at price tags when buying things in the city. I was told to leave slips with Ernhardt’s or Valentia’s name on them, and the employees would take care of the payment.
I received an allowance separately, but even when buying things, I gave as much as they asked for and never haggled. I was taught not to haggle in non-business matters with Ernhardt’s name attached.
Ernhardt’s wine usually cost ten silver coins per bottle. I hadn’t thought that it was worth several months’ worth of meals. It was natural that the value of iron coins and silver ingots was different in the Central Plains, but because it came easily into my hands, I had taken it lightly and hadn’t thought about it further.
I knew that I was living luxuriously, but wasn’t it too much? I remembered spending a little over one gold coin to buy a slime, what was that about⋯. Is it right to give such large sums of money to young children so readily?
I couldn’t remember how many silver coins the entrance fee to the botanical garden was. It was because Shayden had collected all the children’s money and calculated it together. Did Jenny say that the entrance fee to the botanical garden was burdensome for her? It was certainly understandable⋯.
Galeph Fisher wrote some calculations on the blackboard. It was about the shipping and incidental costs of bringing specialties from the five kingdoms to Sierran, and the calculation of the actual price. Ivan pushed his Type 5 calculator to my desk.
My palms were sweaty, so I took out a handkerchief instead of a pen and held it. My mind was confused with all sorts of thoughts.